User blog:Thechapmaniac1/Shadows Reborn
Chapter 1 At the end of Journey's End, some had thought that the darkness had been relinquished forever. They where wrong. Makuta Teridax had left some heirs, their souls almost as black and deadly as his. Nothing could remove the darkness in their hearts, not even death. Put into slumber and stowed away in a crevice far underground, they where set to awaken in the event of Teridax's last, final death. Teridax would make his enemmies' victory bittersweet if it was the final thing he did. As Teridax's last moments flared out of existence, far under the Bara Magna desert, three being awoken. One was a Dark Toa named Ghoe, one of the first and most powerful of the Dark Toa. The other two where the most powerful Shadow Matoran, Spirahk and Xeron. Both matoran had enlisted by choice, and they never regretted it once. Thanks to Teridax, they had absorbed more power than they ever could have dreamed of. Ghoe started to get wary. With his shadow pickaxe he started blasting a hole to the surface, but at first contact, the solid, volcanic-ashlike sands withdrew, forming a passage to the surface. Quickly, Ghoe activated his Jet Pack and rocketed to the surface, Spirahk and Xeron both forgotten. Spirahk and Xeron, however, couldn't have cared less. They where investigating a strange peace of machinery that upon their shadows' first touch, started spinning feverishly. Entranced, Spirahk and Xeron where drawn into the machine's dark energies, and a huge spark gave off. Closer and closer they got, until finally both of them where inside the machine, and... It exploded. Spirahk and Xeron screamed, screamed then screamed some more. At one point, it seems that there whrere not two screams, but one merged, alien-like one. Eventually this scream was warped into a rattling, grating, laugh. One figure emerged from the remains of the machine, which was now a whirling cauldron of black energy. This figure was not Spirahk or Xeron, not even both. From the ashes of the doomed shadow matoran, a new being was born! Finally, Makuta Spirax's reign can begin! Chapter 2 On a hot, clammy summer day on the South Pole, most creatures where either searching for unfrozen water or vegetating inside their lairs to try to escape the heat. Four caravans aproached from the North. The creatures in these vehicles wheren't doing any of that. They where freezing their metallic butts off. At the Center of a huge clearing, the caravans stopped, and from each a tall, metallic figure arose from within, one black and gold, one brown and yellow, one red, and one green. They where Toa. Matoran of assorted colors started to pour out from the caravans like a tide of the flood, carrying various pieces of equipment and starting to hastily set up buildings on the barren, white ground. Quickly, redclad matoran set up a great pit in the center of camp, and the redclad Toa, a toa of fire named Mesarou, lit a great blaze. The other three followed their leader, an od Toa of Earth named Toa Straughteny to the outskirts of the camp and began constructing a wall with the brown toa named Senevtry to encircle the camp. "Brrrr," blurted the green toa named Teku, "Am I ever-ready to give the Nuva a piece of my mind for sending US here. Why couldn't they quick-send a team of Ice Toa instead of us?' "Because," Senevtry replied, "The Toa Eshtann have gotten a reputation seeing that our team is just about the only one to never to have lost a brother." "But still, I am frozen-cold in this boring waste of a world." "Hey," Straughteny's broken, aged voice rasped, "We all know how important our presece is here. We have no other defenses here, and it would be ripe for anyone to coquer. Namely..." "The Dark Hunters?" inquires a small onu-matoran by the name of Falix, who was listening in on their conversation. "You have to learn not to eavesdrop," Senevtry lets the wall he was working on crash down for a brief second. "You might just have yourself end up dead," with a flick of his wrist, some of the rubble flies at Falix, only to veer off in the last second to crash into a newly-constructed building. "Senevtry!" Straughteny scolds, "That building will probably take another three hours to repair! Good thing you're going to be doing it yourself." "The lesson was worth it", Senevtry replies, and almost runs into Falix on his way. "He's been with me thousands of years, and still, he never learns", he rubs the top of his mask in contemplation. "As for those rumors you heard, we have no physical proof that the Dark Hunters are still alive. We're almost certain that The Shadowed One is dead," "Yeah, all Teridax would have to do is think about him and its bye bye Shadowed One", Falix infers. "And he could do the same for any other member. Teridax got to know many Dark Hunters in his time when they where allied with the brotherhood, and Teridax had a relatively long-memory", Straughteny says. "Did you ever meet Teridax?" Falix asks. "Why would he ever meet that dead shadow-lover?” Teku asks sardonicly. Ignoring Teku, Straughteny finishes the wall of earth he was molding, and turns his dark-masked head in Falix's direction, "Never. But I have met Makuta that could've been worse, had they lived long enoug." "Who--?" Falix's questions get cut off just as Mesarou bursts into the little gathering "Strager...in camp...wants to talk to you...has a huge scythe..." Mesarou pants. "Get Srnevtry, we will adress our visiter together." Silently in Straughteny's mind or we will die together... Chapter 3 Faster than a train, the Toa Eshtann bound to meet their new visiter. He was a tall, muscular figure, with a silver mask that vaguely resemblesd the Kanohi Ignika, the mask of Life. The silver, black and white figure carried a huge reaper that could open and close like a jaw, and had a small sword blade attached to his arm. And he didn't look happy. "You," the figure boomed in a grating voice as he pointed at Toa Straughteny. "I wish to speak with you." Reserved, Straughteny's gaze flitted to each of his three Eshtann. "Whatever you wish to say, my Toa can hear as well." "As I do recall, I believe there are instances where all should be protected from their own knowledge," the figure spoke. Not convinced, Straughteny scrutinized the figure more closely, only to have a brief expression of shock, amazement, and dread cross his face. "Who are you?" "That s not important right now. What is important is I tell you this message, privately. ''But if you fail to cooperate unless you know so, many call me Ceirallen these days." Finally, Mesarou broke the silence of the other three Eshtann, "But how do we know this is not an attack? Or an assassination attempt? For all we know you could be an angry rahkshi-lover who wants to kill the first Eshtann." Ceirallen smiles, "Oh, you don't know how very false that statement is." With that, he thrusts his hand with the sword, and a stream, of energized protodermis rushes at Mesarou like a sideways waterfall, only to stop inches away from his face. "If I wanted to kill him, you, and this village, I would've just endlessly flooded this village with protodermis. Now come, Straughteny, we have much to discuss." Reluctantly, Straughteny follows Ceirallen to beyond the stone/earth wall that he and Senevtry had just finished constructing. When they where a good distance away, Ceirallen started to speak. "You are in grave danger. You and this entire village must prepare for this onslaught." "How do you know of this? And what exactly is trying to kill us?" "That you are forbidden to know." "Why?" Ceirallen looks to the left and then the right, "I can't explain the details, but it would only increase his power should you get captured and the information slip from your grasp." "Well, then what should I do? How should I prepare?" Ceirallen looks dead on at Straughteny, "Gather light, Have this village be strewn with as much light as possible. And don't go outside these walls." "Is that all? That should be easy seeing that Mesarou and his flaming shield are a light show in itself. If you don't mind, I'll like to get started," with that, Straughteny turned around and began walking towards the village. "Wait, there's one more thing. Your past may home back to haunt you again, and this time it may be deadly." "What do you mean?" Turning around, Straughteny was barely in time to witness a bright flash in the air, and Ceirallen was gone. '''Chapter 4' Ghoe was far up in the heavens when the stranfe multicolored creatures caught his eye. One red, one green, one black, one brown. All around them milled smaller multicolored creatures- the matoran. The taller ones resembled toa- his sworn enemies for now, and he even was tempted to dive down and destroy a handful of them, until in mid-dive, a glint of silver on the black one's chest gave way to a torrent of memories. He knew this toa. Engulfing himself in sinister black mist, Ghoe smiled. Then he laughed. "Revenge at last, my dear Straughteny. So you've survived Makuta's little purge, but I guarantee you won't survive this." Racing away like a jet, carrying crucial news back to Spirax, Dark Toa Ghoe unleashed a lightning strike of black energy, which collided right with Straughteny's chest. Not caring about the outcome right now, Ghoe continued on his journey, a quite uneventful one over the tundra, until he reached Spirax's little cave. Occupying it where strange multicolored warriors that could've taken the head of a skadki and eaten it raw. By the time he landed though, it appeared the discussion was almost done. "The Legion of Death, don't forget that" said a menacing warrior with a bright bare skull for a head, with rows and rows of teeth. He gave Ghoe a look that told him he might very well be his next meal, then disappeared into thin air, as if he'd never been. "Who where they? And what's this 'Legion of Death'?" Ghoe asks like an overprotective mother. Ignoring the question completely, Spirax asks with gleaming eyes,"What did you find?" Ghoe spits out the word like one would a rotten apple peal, "Toa". Spirax considers this for a moment. "We must start an attack immediately. We must leave no toa alive. They're too virtuous and could be a fatal mistake". Ghoe smiles, "They'res something else I want to tell you..." Chapter 5 It was a dark and stormy day in the arctic village. Clouds hovered menacingly over the gates, and the character inside even more menacing. With fear, rage, and anger, Ghoe lunged for the village below, jet pack spewing cold, dark clouds. His destination: Toa Straughteny's head Spirax slithered into the cold, dark pool and whipped forward like a boomerang. His victim was merely twenty feet below him. With hands of steel, he grasped the wriggling red, white and blue Firestone Seal, who vastly populated the arctic. The seal struggled, even tried to use his powerful fire attack that stung like fireflyer stings, but Spirax's own iron grip did not waver, in fact it tightened. The Firestone Seal stopped struggling as Spirax shot to the surface, and the seal's lithe form filled up with a fraction of Spirax's darkness. On dry land, Spirax stuttered, slipped, while the creature was undergoing its transformation. When Spirax got up, a very different creature stood before him. Although appearance was the same, its eyes gleamed with hate, and its newly-aquired shadow seemed to seep out of its being. "You will gather others of your kind and spread our little...blessing. Once infected, you shall meet me at the matoran village for its...,dismantleship. Go." With that, the Seal dove underneath the waves, and Spirax shot a huge burst of energy seemingly at the water, and broke the ice. After minutes of patience, Spirax got what he wanted. A huge, shadowy creature emerged from the ice, and Spirax climbed on to begin the conquest.... As the sky darkened, fear spread through the village. Standing strong, the Toa Eshtann stood together, weapons pointed in the air to receive the onslaught, and to combat the darkness.... Chapter 6 Like a shining bullet of Death, Ghoe fell from the sky. At a raise of his arm, twin pillars of shadoa erupted from his fingertips and narrowly missed Teku, reducing a building to rubble in seconds. As Teku broke from the group of assembled Toa to avoid chunks of debris, green energy lanced off his spear in a weak offensive, which only managed to get Ghoe to lose his balance for a second. The other Toa where too preoccupied with the army of firedstone seals erupting from the ground and kidnapping villagers. Ghoe landed like a rock square on his feet, unharmed. As the seals where making off with much more matoran, it became apparent that something huge was needed to fence them in. Mesarou rose his gauntlet up in the sky, and from his palm a swirling inferno ensued, creating a perimeter for the seals, and burning any daring ones. Ghoe calmly walked up to the Toa, his stormcloud now acting as a cloak of darkness. Reunited, Senevtry, Straughteny, Teku, and Mesarou stood united, weapons met together for a combined elemental attack. Ghoe lifted up his arm and a pillar of black energy the size of a building blasted the Toa, whose combined might only held back the onslaught for half a second before they themselves where scattered like mice. Abruptly, Mesarou got up to see if his friend Teku was still alive. Teku only stared deadly at him. "Teku, Teku come on. Don't leave me brother!" Mesarou said through pained sadness, unable to cry being a Toa of fire to the loss of his friend. "You've survived so much, so many years--why fall now?" Shocked, just a couple feet away, Straughteny looked on in horror. In a dull, low voice, Mesarou's gaze shifted to Ghoe. "You." Picking up his shield with new determination, Mesarou ran. He ran with the fire of vengeance. He ran with the power of death. He ran for Teku. "You shall not survive this encounter!!!" With thst, Mesarou sprang and narrowly missed an endless pillar of shadow. "Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!" Palm outstretched, with all his might, Mesarou pumped every ounce of heat out to Ghoe, who was slammed to the ground by the sheer force, heat constantly assaulting his and melting a huge hole around him, until he slipped into the sea. Exhausted, Mesarou fell back to earth, satisfied Ghoe had been defeated. But it would not last. Like an earthquake, the land began to tremble, and like a rocket, Ghoe shot out of the water, and erupted another pillar of shadow, which Mesarou lifted his shield weakly to defend. "Noooooooo!!!" Senevtry watched on in horror as Mesarou was blasted aside like a wet doll, armor getting blown off his very frame, until his weak form smashed into the ice with a sickening crunch. "Don't do something you'll regret," Starughteny said as he grabbed Senevtry's arm sadly. "It is more important that we get whatever matoran we can to safety, see-" "Don`t YOU JUST RELIZE WHAT JUST HAPPENED? HE MUST PAY. Our brothers are dead and are never going to rise again. Don't you care-" "My dear friend, don't believe that I don't, you must know by now that we cannot overcome this. Now, we can hide the matoran in the Toa Suva Chamber. If we hurry and with your power over rock, we can save a dozen more than if we die here, Now come, we must hurry." Chapter 7 Rushing into the war-torn village, Senevtry and Straughteny raced to herd their matoran to a safe place. All around them sounds of pain and war raged, flames thrived, and death reigned. "Senevtry, can you open the cavern?" Straughteny hesitantly asked. "The- the cavern?" Senevtry stuttered. That cavern housed the Toa Suvas, a necessary machine for turning matoran villagers into Toa heroes. Had they fall into the wrong hands, no. Senevtry didn't even let it cross his mind. Had those fallen into the wrong hands there might be not one but possibly hundreds of Dark Toa on the loose, and unearthly holocaust he was not willing to unleash upon the world. "Yes, yes. It is the only secluded place. You must open it, for it is the only place they will be safe." As quick as there legs could carry them, the two Toa and many matoran hurried towards the Suva chamber. Reeeeeaaaashh!!! Suddenly, a great spire of ice shot up, elevating the Ta-matoran Bohata to great height, but separating Senevtry's group from Straughteny. "Senevtry, can you handle this? And with haste!" Straughteny's old voice was taught with fear. "No, wait, you must not he-he's coming! Take Bohata!" With a dull thud, Bohata was pelted with a clod of earth and fell... to earth, right where Senevtry caught him. "We'll meet in the wastelands. Do not come out until it's time. We'll meet by the great ice bridge Skri's team constructed. Go now, before it's too late!" Category:Blog posts